The present invention relates to steam generating equipment of a type known as "package boilers" that are assembled in a shop and then transported in their entirety to a given plant site. Package boilers have a distinct advantage over field erected boilers of comparable capacity inasmuch as significant savings may be realized by constructing the apparatus in a shop. In addition to the reduction in costs due to the time and manpower saved in their manufacture in a shop, further benefits are to be derived because the entire fabricating process may be performed under more nearly ideal conditions, thereby enhancing the quality of the finished product.
A significant disadvantage of existing shop built and assembled "package-type" boilers is that they have been universally designed for the utilization of gaseous and liquid fuel. With the shortage of such fuel, together with the comparative availability of coal, it becomes the principle object of this invention to provide a "package-type" boiler that is adapted for the burning of pulverized coal. The boiler is adapted to be supported by tubular wall members that are bent to form a furnace cavity having a hopper-shaped bottom on opposite sides of an elongate throat through which ash and other solid particles comprising the products of combustion may descend to a suitable disposal area.